Bombay Groove, a.k.a. Yankee Go Home - 5.10a

This is a really fun route, even with the sketchy traverse. My partner slipped on the traverse when seconding. The rope was tight so he didn't go far. I turned it into two pitches rather than three. I had forgotten how crappy the rock is up top. Be very careful as it is easy to slip due to the crumbling rock. I didn't have any trouble but it was still a bit disconcerting.

This is my second time leading this route. I started on Great Brown Way, traversing wide right at the first bolt. I do not care much for the traverse but still had a good time. I did take a slightly different line this time around. On the second pitch I clipped the belay anchors for protection and moved right to the next water groove and followed it to the top. It was about the same difficulty as the left water groove but had better rock. The guidebook does not even mention the belay anchors on pitch two and only shows two pitches. I guess it could be done in three pitches but it seems odd since the end of the route is so near.

This was the third of four routes we climbed today in blistering heat. Again, I lead the entire route. We used the standard approach and climbed to the first bolt on Great Brown Way. I plugged a few cams into the flakes for added protection before clipping the bolt. It can be a little tricky actually getting to the bolt, so be safe. From there, a traverse is required to reach the arete. I found the traverse to be a bit intimidating and proceeded with much caution. Once on the arete, I felt at ease and clipped a single bolt on the way to the first belay. There is a small traverse to the left involved in reaching the belay since it is shared with Great Brown Way.

For the second pitch, traverse back to the arete and follow it to a bolt at a water groove. From there, follow the groove to the top. There was one more bolt in the groove and another set of belay anchors before reaching the top. The route is only supposed to have two pitches, so I do not know why there is another set of belay anchors. I clipped in for protection and continued to the double belay at the top. The only problem I encountered was the poor quality of the rock on the second pitch. Everywhere I stepped seemed to crumble due to the loose rock. Of course, I may just be too heavy for this type of rock. With the additional set of belays, we were able to make three raps back to the tree ledge with a single 70M rope.

P1 was tough to make over the mantle, and I was seconding thankfully. I led P2, which was pretty mellow, and enjoyed the view of the climbers down below on Great Arch. P3 was very mellow.

P1 is tricky and heady. P2 is easy, well protected at the crux, and fun.